, 1887-12-17
A PARADISE FOR THIEVES.
They Hold High Carnival in the Empire
of tho Czar-'Thieves' Markets."

They Hold High Carnival in the Empire
of tho Czar-"Thieves' Markets."
There is SO much thievery in Russia
that all the principal cities have what is
known as ''thieves' markets." They are
conducted openly, and little if any effort
Is made to trace IN article which goes in
that direction. Travellers, in their exas-
peration, often declare that the authori-
ties, the thieves and the vendors of stolen
articles are banded together, and that the
profits are divided on a fixed scale. Be
that as it may, there is more stealing in
this than in any other country, unless
probably Egypt is excepted.
Here the thieves market is two blocks
deep, four long, and gives commercial
transactions to thousands of persons. The
goods are carried in by the pillagers,
burglars and %footpads, sold to the shop
keepers openly, and nc secret is made of
the fact that the goods were stolen. The
buildings are mostly of brick, located in
II quarter remote from the most respecta-
BILE portion of the city, and the shop
keepers live in the second stories. The
rooms are all filthy, covered with vermin,
filled with nauseous odors, and the goods
are dusty. The lazy men and women
- ~ AANAt - AAO SiAAillNtol III lllt Idl-
row streets, play chess or cards, smoke
and drink tea, and show a shocking de-
gree of ~depravity. They are mostly
Greeks, although many are Tartars, Jews
and Egyptians. The Jews are said to be
the most cleanly, honorable and intclli-
gent.
The thieves market flourishes most on
a Sunday morning, although Sunday is
not generally observed here, and street
improvements, building of every charac-
ter and trade go forward. But many
people take n holiday on Sunday and
spend it here. To this point ] wcnded
my way II Sunday morning, and saw
a throng such as Five Points, New York,
would have been shocked at in her
palmiest days. In n window l saw some
fine old chinaware, bearing the private
mark of Alexander l, the crown and
seal of the empire. Immediately tile
shopkecper, n woman, informed me that
the goods were stolen from The winter
palace; she knew it, because she got them
directly from the thief, and she had
handled his property before.
In the center of each block is a hollow
square, about $50 feet in diameter. These
were filled with men, women and chill
dren, behind improvised counters, selling
or making almost everything. Second
hand boots are the most popular goods,
and scores of men and boys can he seen
repairing them in the open air, while
others go about selling them. The ground
Is powdered n covered with sand and
tleas. Pigeons and crows, both sacrcdly
protected, hop about everywhere. The
rows are dark gray, with little black
coats. Great big Siberian hounds, muz-
zled, stalk about with the multitude and
i've Zcst to the scene.
Train loads of old iron, copper and
leather, hoops, cast off and new clothing,
lcwelry, watches, clocks and silvcrwarc,
furs, everything that furnishes houses,
man. woman child and beast, in confu-
sion and profusion, Just like a heap of
stuff a burglar drops when hotly pnr-
sued. 1t is said the thieves linger here
after disposlng of their plumber. and
often succeed in regainiug the property
when it is purchased, and that goods are
stolen and r~Cstolen n number of times in
n single day or night. The scenes about
the thieves market here arc duplicated
in four or five places in the empire.
They arc as Old us the cities, and the
markets having become fixed iustitll-
tons, no attempt is made 10 Illustrate
them.
SO helpless are the honest natives
when robbed that they often seek witches
to trace the direction of the stolen prop
erty. The witch proceeds by peculiar
means. She summons all the n~Cighbors
whom she suspects, gets a pail of water.
makes a little roll of dough to represent
each one present, and begins in the pres
cncc of the party to drop the balls into
the water, the theory being that when
she names the thief they will all sink.
Nine times out Of ten the witch forces n
! confession. 1t is n waste of time to APP
peal to the authorities. The superstitions
of the people are thus turned to advant-
age. They believe it is far worse to be
detected in crime han to make a free
confession. In nearly every bedroom
! have occupied in the Russian hostelries
| have found a tiny shrine. Some are
over the doors, others high up in the cor
ncrs next TO the ceiling, while n few arc
slowed away on top of wardrobcs. The
presence of the shrine Is not only a salts
faction and a solace to the occupant of
the room, should he be n Russian, but a
protection to the landlord, for it has not
been frequent hat thefts are pcrpctratcd
in the presence of shrines. The thieves
fear shrincs more than lawful rctribu-
tion.-P. S. Heath in New York Mail
and Express.
A new line of scarfs lust in, especially